McLaren could have been in the points in Bahrain according to Stella

Despite a very colorful car, McLaren broods. Already during pre-season testing, the team did not seem as competitive as the previous year when it fought with Alpine for 4th place in the Manufacturers. And throughout this first weekend of Formula 1 of the season, the bad news continued for the Papayas.

If the rookie Oscar piastri was still apprehensive of the premier category in his first qualifying session finished in 17th position, Lando Norris almost managed to force his way into Q3. « It was surely possible to score points, admits Andrea Stella, who makes his debut at the head of the British garage. The cars were competitive in race pace, and Lando in particular was in a good position. »

But when it's not speed, it's reliability that puts a damper on the wheels of the two MCL60s. « Oscar had to abandon due to an electronic problem which we continue to investigate. At the same time, Lando had a tire pressure leak on the engine. This forced him to pit every ten laps to recharge his system. » Stella says. On the Australian side, we tried to change the steering wheel of the car to allow Piastri to get back on the track, without success. And Lando Norris, linked to McLaren by a contract ending in 2025, was fighting with his orange car in the hope of a racing success: « We had several problems to deal with, observes the Briton, which completely took us out of the race even though we tried to stay there as long as possible, waiting for a safety car for example to take our chance at the end. » 

« It's frustrating to finish so soon. Everything was going quite well, we got a good start and we made some nice overtakes » adds Piastri, who was surely hoping for a better finish to his very first Grand Prix in Formula 1.

A better performance than expected

But whether it is Stella, Norris or Piastri, all agree that the performance is less terrible than what the pre-season tests suggested. The new boss of the team accepts it, McLaren is perhaps not heading in the right direction to develop its car from last year. « We leave Bahrain knowing that we still have work but the season is long, he rationalizes. We're going to come together and make sure we're ready in Saudi Arabia. »

From March 17, the 20 drivers will meet for the second round of the longest season in the history of the sport (23 Grands Prix). Zak Brown's team has already announced that it will make new improvements during the next meetings of the 2023 financial year, in which McLaren hopes to be able to take part in a mid-grid battle which promises to be very tight.

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